An 'Authorized Personnel Only' sign hangs outside the president's office in Plumb Hall. (photo by Sam Bailey)
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) plans to open a case against Emporia State after receiving nine official complaints following the dismissal of 33 faculty members last Friday, according to an AAUP spokesperson.
“What’s happening at Emporia State University in Kansas is incredibly important,” said Irene Mulvey, AAUP president, in a statement. “By getting rid of tenure, they’ve gutted academic freedom. This is part of a larger attack on education, which is part of the attack on democracy we are witnessing in this country.”
AAUP is a nonprofit association for academic professions that “advocate(s) for faculty, in terms of advancing academic freedom and shared governance,” according to Michael DeCesare, senior program officer in the AAUP department of academic freedom, tenure and governance.
On Sept. 14 the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) approved the Workforce Management Framework that allowed ESU to dismiss faculty members regardless of their tenured status.
“Without the protections of tenure, faculty members can simply be dismissed because of administrative whim, because an administrator or board member or a politician doesn’t like something they say in class or doesn’t like some topics that they decided to conduct research on,’’ DeCesare said. “When that can happen, then that degrades the whole purpose of higher education.”
The framework was developed from a KBOR policy offered to all six public Kansas universities. In January 2021, AAUP sent a letter to its Kansas branch disapproving of the policy.
ESU is the only Kansas university to follow through with a framework. On Sept. 15, the day after KBOR approved the framework, ESU dismissed 33 faculty members.
At 8:15 on Sept. 15, an unidentified university employee called Christopher Lovett, professor of social sciences, sociology and criminology who has been tenured for 20 years, and asked him to go to the Earl Center. Lovett said he didn’t know where the Earl Center was and asked why he should report there, but the caller refused to elaborate.
Lovett drove nearly an hour from his home in Topeka to the meeting where he correctly suspected that he would receive a notice of dismissal.
“I was extremely angry,” Lovett said. “I can’t tell you how upset I was. I saw my whole career just flash in front of me. I didn’t quite expect it that way, because I have (masters) students that have not graduated yet. I am directing theses. What is going to happen to those students?”
Since the framework was approved by KBOR, AAUP received “at least nine” faculty complaints, according to Kelly Benjamin with AAUP Media and Communications. Now, Benjamin says “with a great deal of certainty” AAUP will open a legal case against ESU.
Gwen Larson, director of media relations, told The Bulletin via email that the university “does not comment on potential or pending litigation.”
ESU president Ken Hush, announced plans for the Framework and cited the need to “realign resources” and “address the university’s structural deficit” that was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic in a campus-wide email on Sept. 7.
DeCesare said that he and AAUP have seen no evidence to support the claimed need for the Framework. Lovett agreed.
“No one really deserved the way this was done,” Lovett said. “I still would like to see the financial crisis. Show me, then. Open the books and show me what is actually going on.”
Editor’s Note: This version of the story was updated for clarification. Typically, the AAUP opens a case when it writes to an administration conveying concerns regarding apparent departure from its recommended principles and standards, according to Kelly Benjamin with AAUP Media and Communications. It is currently at that stage with ESU.
Sarah Spicer advises The Bulletin on stories about Emporia State’s framework to dismiss employees.